Three Trends to Watch

Fees are shrinking, but that's not necessarily helpful; Fidelity is about to become a game-changer; and all eyes should be on the bond market.

Say this much for exchange-traded funds in 2013: They'll keep drawing new investors. The ETF industry's assets leapt more than 25% to $1.34 trillion in 2012, including a record $185 billion in new money, and show few signs of slowing down. Behind the growth: Stock ETFs are becoming ever less expensive. Market volatility and correlation are keeping stock pickers' success to a minimum, which only helps ETFs, the bulk of which are passively managed. Then there are factors specific to asset classes, like the expanding field of bond ETFs. But big growth for the industry doesn't necessarily mean big changes for investors....